Introducing...

Eric.

He's my Pixie of Self Doubt (yes I know he looks friendly but there's a water pistol lurking in that bouquet). He lives under my desk and sometimes under my bed, he has even been known to lurk in the library (in the 'How to Write Properly' books section) and on trains (talking loudly into his mobile phone about 'wannabe writers who haven't got any original ideas and over use semi colons ;)

I had him locked in his box on Tuesday and had a blinder of a writing day. This included completing and sending off my first ever submission to Mslexia. Whether they like it or not it feels like an achievement to have done it.

Our writing group met in the evening and we had a guest writer, the playwright Linda Marshall-Griffiths (listen to her play broadcast on Radio Four last Friday under the name Jude Hughes). It was very generous of her to share her wealth of experience with us. She has such an obvious passion for writing that we couldn't help but be inspired. She did some workshop stuff with us that worked really well. So well that the next day I revisited what I had written, edited, tweaked etc and found I had - a poem! I'm not a great one for writing poetry, I tend to go all slushy and limp. But this one is different, it's actually quite edgy and creepy.

Eric managed to escape yesterday afternoon and told me with glee that my writing was irrelevant nonsensical chatter with no meaning or purpose. Not wanting to wallow in such feelings I distracted Eric with my poem (I have no expectations of being a poet so he can say what he likes about it) and did some sewing instead. I found a dress at the secondhand market in town that was so gorgeous - and only cost £4 -that I bought it even though it was two sizes too big. I spent last night tucking and turning, and voila! - a dress fit for a trip to the wine bar with my mates tonight. (Eric knows nothing of the cunning art of dressmaking so has no say in the matter).


Right Eric back in your box, I've just remembered some good things about my novel and need to get back to them before I forget.

Women who write

Hurrah for the return of snail mail.

Two very welcome deliveries this morning (and no bills!).

The first was the new copy of Mslexia which always cheers me, although I have to eek out my reading of it carefully over the next three months.

Second was a bundle of copies of a writing anthology called Landscape from a Dream - which has a piece by me in it! Ta-dah!- publication at last. The anthology was produced by the Newcastle Lit and Phil Library for National Poetry Day on the 4th October, and the organiser Sheree Mack asked me for a piece way back at the beginning of summer. It's so lovely to see my words in black and white in an anthology of, in my 'umble opinion, 'damn fine writing'. The booklets were distributed in Newcastle on National Poetry Day - let me know if you got hold of a copy and what you think. Meanwhile I will be distributing my copies among family and friends, and of course keeping one for myself.

Mslexia is subtitled 'for women who write' and when I began subscribing a couple of years ago I considered myself 'a woman who wants to write'. I've still got a long way to go and a lot of writing to do but over the past year I have moved on, so that I am now 'a woman who writes', it is part of my life and I love it.